Taunton Catholic Middle School coach loves the sport of basketball

Monday

Feb 10, 2014 at 10:01 PMFeb 10, 2014 at 10:12 PM

Longtime mentor Bill Ruggiero in his 11th season at TCMS

Steve Sanchez Gazette Sports Editor @Chezsports

There are not many good men around these days that you look up to besides your own father.Taunton Catholic Middle School teacher and coach Bill Ruggiero is one of those men.He is old-school and simply loves the game of basketball.Most importantly, he loves to teach kids the sport.Moments after Sunday's boys championship game of the 28th annual Butler Memorial Scholarship tournament, Ruggiero wanted nothing to do with the credit for the victory. Instead he left two of his best players — Doug Alves and Kelvin Kariuki — to conduct their postgame thoughts.He wanted them to get credit they deserve.During the awards ceremony, Ruggiero was given a huge ovation from the large crowd inside TCMS after receiving the first-ever Butler Achievement award from tournament host and founder, Brian Clemmey.A nice tribute to a great guy.There were also rumors floating around the building about Ruggiero calling it quits after the game.But the 66-year old mentor disregard those notions quickly."I don't know about that," he said. "My health hasn't been that good. I've been in and out of the hospital in the last couple of months. But I love the game because I like teaching. The kids pick me up. So I'll make that decision once the time has come."Two years ago when the eighth graders moved to the high school, the Butler tournament was in jeopardy because local middle schools activities — especially basketball — were eliminated.So Ruggiero — with the help of Clemmey, teachers and TCMS principal Dr. Corinne R. Merritt — slowly put together a program of games with teams coming from the Massosoit League.Those teams replaced the regular middle school teams."Brian Clemmey, he really deserves the credit," Ruggiero said. "He started this tournament 28 years ago. When the eighth graders went to the high school, the tournament was in danger of dying. So I kind of took it upon myself and asked Brian for some guidance. I had a lot of help."Ruggiero, now in his 27th year of coaching (11 years with TCMS), started teaching Boston-Dorchester school kids for years about the finer points of basketball. Unfortunately for Ruggiero, Proposition 2 1/2 came along and stripped him of his job there.He was then forced to take a job at the former Taunton restaurant called the Gondola, where he managed for his father-in-law for 20 years. Ruggiero worked 17 to 18 hours a day taking care of the place until his wife said enough was enough."It was killing me," he said. "I just got burned out. I was so tired. I had some help but I stayed because I felt it was easier to manage and not worry as much."But as dedicated as he was to his job, Ruggiero found some time to do the things he loves — coaching. He coached a Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball team — St. Joesph's — during that time."I love to coach," he smiled.He also had a coaching stint at Archbishop Williams back in the day as well.Finally in 2003, Ruggiero decided to teach again and was offered a job at TCMS.He has been there ever since."I decided to teach despite being 55," Ruggiero said. "The principal called back and said the job is yours. Everybody has been good to me. Steve Turner was a big help, too, for me. "There are certain people in the world that touch peoples lives.Ruggiero is one of them.Just the look on his team's faces as they raise the championship trophy high to the sky spoke a thousands words. Enough said.

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